Background Image
...
I Sing Sometimes For The War That I Fight, 'cause Every Tool Is A Weapon If You Hold It Right.
-Ani DiFranco
...
Please Wait....
Translating....

I Sing Sometimes For

Ani DiFranco
...
I Sing Sometimes For The War That I Fight, 'cause Every Tool Is A Weapon If You Hold It Right.

Understanding the Quote: "i sing sometimes for the war that i fight, 'cause every tool..."

This quote by Ani DiFranco reflects deeply on the theme of war. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under War, Fighting, Tools, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Ani DiFranco interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco is celebrated for insightful thoughts on war and fighting. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 8
Topic
War
Fighting
Tools
More From Ani DiFranco
I Don't Need Anyone To Hold Me, I Can Hold My Own.
Inspirational
Needs
Hold Me
To Split Yourself In Two Is Just The Most Radical Thing You Can Do
Two
Splits
Radical
I Know My Mind Is Made Of Matter But I Need To Know Exactly What Is The Matter At It's Core? Because My Heart Is Just A Muscle And Simply Put, It's Sore.
Heart
Sadness
Mind
We Need A Radically Truthful Way To Acknowledge Reproductive Freedom.
Needs
Way
Truthful
For Every Hand Extended Another Lies In Wait. Keep Your Eye On That One Girl...anticipate.
Girl
Lying
Eye
While Out In Tv Nation, Under Darkening Skies, The Resistance Is Just Waiting To Be Organized.
Change
Sky
Waiting
The World Owes Us Nothing; We Owe Each Other The World.
World
Every Time I Say Something They Find Hard To Hear, They Chalk It Up To My Anger, And Never To Their Own Fear.
Heartless
Survivor
Chalk
...words Are Some Of The Most Powerful And Important Things I Know....language Is The Tool Of Love And The Weapon Of Hatred. It's The Bright Red Warning Flag Of Danger--and The Stone Foundation Of Diplomacy And Peace.
Powerful
Hatred
Important
A Little Bird Told Me That Jumping Is Easy And The Falling Is Fun, Right Up Until You Hit Sidewalk Shivering And Stunned.
Fun
Fall
Animal
So Many Of Us, Myself Included, Need To Keep Our Sense Of Personal Outrage In Check. Each Human Beings Position On The Planet Is One Of Intense Humility.
Humility
Needs
Intense
Like A Lot Of People, I Had This Naive Hope That Barack Obama Would Fix Everything Quickly. You Know, The Culture Of Celebrity In This Country Leads Us Away From Democratic Ways Of Thinking And Into This Hero Worship. And So Of Course, One Man Cannot Swoop In And Fix Everything On His Own. It's Much More Complicated And Difficult Than That, And Progressives In This Country Since Then Have Had To Come To Terms With The Fact That We Need To Do More Than Actually Get Out Of Our House And Vote. It's An Ongoing Process To Turn The Tide.
Country
Hero
Men
I Wonder What You Look Like Under Your T-shirt. I Wonder What You Sound Like When You're Not Wearing Words. I Wonder What We Have When We're Not Pretending.
Sound
Looks
Wonder
I Don't Care If They Eat Me Alive, I've Got Better Things To Do Then Survive.
Depression
Alive
Care
Some People Wear Their Smile Like A Disguise. Those People Who Smile A Lot, Watch Their Eyes. I Know 'cause I'm Like That A Lot. You Think Everything's Ok, And It Is . . . 'till It's Not.
Smile
Eye
Thinking
I Used To Be A Superhero; No One Could Touch Me, Not Even Myself. You Are Like A Phone Booth I Somehow Stumbled Into, And Now Look At Me - I Am Just Like Everybody Else.
Fall
Phones
Superhero
It Don't Take A Weather Man To Look Around And See The Weather, Jeb Said He'd Deliver Florida Folks And Boy Did He Ever, And We Hold These Truths To Be Self Evident Number One George W Bush Is Not President. Number Two America Isn't A True Democracy. And Number Three The Media Is Not Fooling Me.
Men
Boys
Weather
If I'm Gonna Go Down I'm Gonna Do It With Style. You Won't Hear Me Surrender, You Won't Hear Me Confess Cause You've Left Me With Nothing But I Have Worked With Less.
Style
Causes
Surrender
Playing Show After Show Is Like My Bread And Butter.
Bread
Bread And Butter
Shows
When You Sit Right Down In The Middle Of Yourself You're Gonna Wanna Have A Comfortable Chair.
Chairs
Middle
Comfortable
I'd Rather Suffer The Consequences Of Truth Than Of Silence.
Silence
Suffering
Consequence
I Was Supposed To Be Cool About This, Yeah, I Remember - Cool Was The Plan. Tried To Keep It All Under Wraps, But The Wraps Kept Going Slack. I Keep Turning Round, I Keep Coming Back.
Fall
Remember
Yeah
I Think If We Can't Use The Word Feminist, If It's Some Kind Of Taboo Or Dirty Word, Or Means You're Ugly, Or You're Angry, Or You're Not Dateable [laughs], Then You've Just Reduced The Language By A Whole Concept.
Dirty
Mean
Thinking
Goldfish Have No Memory, I Guess Their Lives Are Much Like Mine. And The Little Plastic Castle Is A Surprise Everytime.
Memories
Animal
Castles
I Think I'm A Very Solitary Person. To Actually Not Be Anonymous Is A Bit Claustrophobic For Me.
Thinking
Solitary
Persons
The Fundamental Imbalance That Is Behind All Of The Other Social Diseases Is Patriarchy.
Fundamentals
Disease
Imbalance
Science Chases Money, And Money Chases Its Tail, And The Best Minds Of My Generation Cannot Make Bail.
Work
Mind
Bail
Strangers Are Exciting, Their Mystery Never Ends. But, There's Nothing Like Looking At Your Own History In The Faces Of Your Friends.
Faces
Mystery
Stranger
Actually I Don't Know If Honesty Is A Strength Or Some Kind Of Weakness.
Honesty
Weakness
Kind
Now The Profile Of Our Country Looks A Little Less Hard Nosed / But That Picket Line Persisted And That Clinic's Since Been Closed / They Keep Pounding Their Fists On Reality Hoping It Will Break / But I Don't Think There's A One Of Us Leads A Life Free Of Mistakes
Country
Mistake
Reality
As Any Mom Knows, Having A Baby Is An Extremely Creative Act And To Love And Create A Baby, It's On Par With Any Other Creative Act That We Could Come Up With.
Mom
Baby
Creative
We Negotiate With Chaos For Some Sense Of Satisfaction.
Philosophy
Satisfaction
Chaos
Some People Wear Their Heart Up On Their Sleeve. I Wear Mine Underneath My Right Pant Leg, Strapped To My Boot.
Heart
People
Boots
Second Wave Feminism Started With Consciousness-raising Groups, Which Sounds "big" But It's Really Just House Parties. Women Getting Together And Saying, "you Feel This Way?! Me Too!" Hanging Out Is Consciousness-raising.
Party
House
Together
Don't Tell Me What They Did To You As Though You Had No Choice. Tell Me, Isn't That Your Picture? Isn't That Your Voice.
Art
Media
Voice
When Everything Else Seems Unclear, At Least I'll Know I Do It For The Joy It Brings.
Life
Joy
Knows
What Doesn't Bend, Breaks.
Insanity
Break
People Who Are Just Starting Out Are Always Sort Of Coming To Me For Advice As The Example Of "independent Girl," And Lots Of People Ask, Well, How Did You Get The Booking Agent Or The National Distribution Or The Tours? And I Look At Them Like, "good Lord! Relax!" I Mean, How I Did It Was To Not Care About It And To Not Even Think About It For Years And Years. All I Thought About Was Getting The Next Little Gig In The Little Bar, And I Get This Sense That People Want Me To Give Them The Secret Formula Or The Magic Trick To Make It All Happen.
Girl
Mean
Independent
One Thing I Do Find In The "lost" Generation Or Something Is A Kind Of Abhorrence Of History, You Know, Like It's Boring, Dumb, Or Just Not Interesting. I Think It's Terribly Interesting If You Can Get Your Head Around How It Relates To Where You're Standing Right Here And Now.
Thinking
Interesting
Dumb
One Of My Rules Is: Never Try To Do Anything. Just Do It.
Motivational
Change
Positivity
All The Wrong People Have The Power Of Suggestion And The Freedom Of The Press Is Meaningless If Nobody Asks A Question.
People
Suggestions
Freedom Of The Press
Change The Narrative, Change The Laws.
Law
Narrative
Promiscuity Does Not Scare Me As Long As She Is Savvy And Self Possessed When Puberty Comes To Call. My Aim Is To Simply Raise My Daughter To Be Secure In Her Self Worth And Capable Of Happiness All On Her Own.
Daughter
Self Worth
Long
You're Trying To Fight Gravity On A Planet That Insists That Love Is Like Falling, And Falling Is Like This.
Love
Fall
Fighting
Pop Stardom Is Not Very Compelling. I'm Much More Interested In A Relationship Between Performer And Audience That Is Of Equals. I Came Up Through Folk Music, And There's No Pomp And Circumstance To The Performance. There's No, Like, 'i'll Be The Rock Star, You Be The Adulating Fan.'
Stars
Rocks
Fans
You Rhapsodize About Beauty, And My Eyes Glaze. Everything That I Love Is Ugly. I Mean Really, You Would Be Amazed. Just Do Me A Favor, It's The Least That You Can Do, Just Don't Treat Me Like I Am Something That Happened To You.
Mean
Eye
Love Is
Feminism Is Not Only For Women It's Something Everyone Can Participate In, And Evolve Together, As The First Step In The Right Direction. I See Feminism As A Tool To Achieve That Balance And Peace.
Balance
Feminism
Together
I Am Still Praying For Revolution.
Revolution
Praying
Stills
I Think The Gay Community Should Get Smart And Drop The Word Marriage. Do You Really Need To Change Every Right-wing Christian To Make Sure You Get Your Equal Rights? Eyes On The Prize, We Should Be Sticking To Getting Equal Rights.
Christian
Smart
Eye
Having More Exposure Is Kind Of A Bittersweet Thing For Me, Honestly, Because It's Nice To Have A Little More Job Security In Life Now.
Jobs
Nice
Littles
What Makes You So Lavish That You Can Afford To Spend Every Sober Moment Feeling Angry And Bored?
Bored
Feelings
Unanswered Questions
My Writing Just Kind Of Exists Out There In The Air-it's All Sort Of Intended As Spoken, Or Sung, Word. So, To Commit Them To The Page...that Way Was Kind Of Intimidating To Me, Yet Intriguing, To Try To Reflect The Rhythms And Connotations And Emotions That You Can Deliver, Speaking-wise, On A Page.
Wise
Writing
Air
Let's Grow Old And Die Together. Let's Do It Now.
Together
Grows
Dies
When You Grow Up Surrounded By Willful Ignorance, You Have To Believe That Mercy Has It's Own Country And That It's Round And Borderless.
Music
Country
Growing Up
Who Says I Like Right Angles? These Are Not My Laws, These Are Not My Rules.
Philosophy
Law
Angle
I Seriously Hate Pop Music And All Things Super-commercial.
Hate
Pops
Pop Music
I Mean, I Think It's Hard Enough To Find Somebody You Can Stand For More Than Ten Minutes, So, Like, You Shouldn't Narrow Your Options.
Mean
Thinking
Like You
You've Already Put More Than Enough Energy Into Worry. That's All Women Have Been Allowed To Do, Historically.
Worry
Energy
Enough
I Think The Music Industry, For Instance, Is Such A Huge, Multibazillion-dollar Industry And It's Become Very, Very Savvy. There's A Very Short Grace Period In Which Actual Human Rebellion Or Resistance Can Thrive Before It's Co-opted By These Huge Companies. And All Of Youth Culture Is Packaged And Sold Back To Us At This Furious Rate These Days. I Think It's Part And Parcel To This Corporate Encroachment On Our Lives In General.
Thinking
Grace
Dollars
I Sing Sometimes For The War That I Fight, 'cause Every Tool Is A Weapon If You Hold It Right.
War
Fighting
Tools
Maybe You Can Keep Me From Never Being Happy, But You're Not Going To Stop Me From Having Fun!
Fun
Having Fun
I Don't Know If There Are Artists Out There Who Love Their Own Records. I Haven't Met Any, And I'm Kind Of Extreme In The Other Direction, But Therein Lies The Impetus To Keep Working And Keep Making New Songs And New Records.
Song
Lying
Artist
When I Need To Wipe My Face, I Use The Back Of My Hand, And I Like To Take Up Space Just Because I Can, And I Use My Dress To Wipe Up My Drink. I Care Less And Less What People Think.
Thinking
Hands
Space
Love Sets Fire To Your Schedule, And Then Calls An End To Time.
Fire
Schedules
Ends
You Got To Look Outside- Your Eyes- You Got To Think Outside- Your Brain- You Got To Walk Outside- Your Life- To Where The Neighborhoods Change.
Teacher
Teaching
Eye
The Minute My Child Was Born, I Was Reborn As A Feminist. It's So Incredible What Women Can Do... Birthing Naturally, As Most Women Do Around The Globe, Is A Superhuman Act. You Leave Behind The Comforts Of Being Human And Plunge Back Into Being An Animal.
Children
Animal
Feminist
I Am A Work In Progress Dressed In The Fabric Of A World Unfolding.
Expression
Progress
Fabric
The Scary Truth Is, You Have To Scratch Some Veneer Off To Gauge Where The Moral Fiber Really Is In Certain Pockets Of Society. It's Raw. It's Scary. But It Gives Us A Place To Work With.
Moral Fiber
Giving
Scary
I Feel Like We Need To Understand Feminism More As A Tool To Mediate, Counteract, To Ultimately Defeat Patriarchy And Restore Balance To Our Government, Our Culture And Our Ways Of Thinking And Structuring The World. I Think We've Had A Very "masculine" Sensibility For A Long Time, And I Think We Need To Go Back To The Roots Of Social Imbalance. I Think We Have To Try To Right That First, And From There And All These More Pressing Issues Will Follow.
Thinking
Long
Balance
I Can't Wait To Get Back To New York City Where At Least When I Walk Down The Streat, No One Ever Hesitates To Tell Me Exactly What They Think Of Me.
New York
Thinking
Cities
And Half Of Learning To Play Is Learning What Not To Play And She's Learning The Spaces She Leaves Have Their Own Things To Say And She's Trying To Sing Just Enough So That The Air Around Her Moves And Make Music Like Mercy That Gives What It Is And Has Nothing To Prove She Crawls Out On A Limb And Begins To Build Her Home And It's Enough Just To Look Around And To Know That She's Not Alone Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Points The Spire Of The Steeple But God's Work Isn't Done By God It's Done By People
Integrity
Moving
Home
Stepped Out Into The Cold, Collar High, Under The Slate Gray Sky. The Air Was Smoking And The Streets Were Dry, And I Wasn't Joking When I Said Goodbye.
Goodbye
Air
Sky
I'm An Atheist How Unfortunate It Is To Assign Responsibility To The Higher Up For Justice Amongst People.
Atheist
Responsibility
People
There's A Certain Window Of Time In The Middle Of The Night Out In Middle America Where There's No Bar Open And Nothing On Tv. If You Don't Want To Do Too Many Drugs, You Have To Start Bodily Mutilation.
Night
America
Drug
There Isn't Much I Have To Say, That I Wouldn't Rather Just Shut Up And Do.
Shut Up
How Come I Can Pick My Ears But Not My Nose?
Noses
Ears
Picks
We Are Taught To View Pain As An Enemy, Not A Teacher. But Pain Is The Right Hand Of Growth And Transformation. Pain Is In The History Of All Human Wisdom.
Teacher
Pain
Views
It's Not Important To Be Defined, It's Only Important To Use Your Time Well.
Life
Important
Use
Freedom And Democracy, That's The Word From Washington Every Day. Put America To Sleep With Warm Milk And Clichés, And People Are Expendable Along The Way.
Sleep
America
People
When I Look Down, I Miss All The Good Stuff And When I Look Up, I Just Trip Over Things.
Missing
Looks
Stuff
I Found Religion In The Greeting Card Aisle Now I Know Hallmark Was Right
Women
Religion
Cards
I'm Home In New Orleans!
Home
New Orleans
I Just Don't Know Any Other Word Than "feminist" That Describes A Person Who Believes Women Are People.
Believe
People
Feminist
I Love All Those Great 'f' Words - Feminism, Folk Music.
Feminism
Folks
Folk Music
Patriarchy Is A Fundamental Imbalance Underlying Society And It's One We Rarely Address Because It's So Universal. But As I Get Older, I See That Peace Is A Product Of Balance.
Balance
Fundamentals
Addresses
Self-preservation Is A Full-time Occupation.
Self
Occupation
Self Preservation
Somedays The Line I Walk Turns Out To Be Straight - Other Days The Line Tends To Deviate.
Lines
Walks
Turns
We Barely Have Time To React In This World, Let Alone Rehearse.
Time
World
This World
There Are So Many Things That We Have To Be Very Concerned About. But I Always Come Back To Feminism.
Feminism
Concerned
I Never Try To Imagine The Future. I Kinda Think It's A Waste Of Time. I Live In The Now.
Thinking
Trying
Waste
I Really Have Been Enjoying Performing More Lately Than I Have In A Long Time And You Know, It's All About That Sort Of Centered Feeling That I Have Now. You Know, Thanks To, Not Just My Kid, But Her Father Before Her. You Know, I Have A Kind Of A Grounding Through Them That I Really Relish, And I Think Is Also Good For My Work, You Know.
Father
Kids
Thinking
These Days, I Find I'm Applying A Little More Patience To My Process. If I Look Back On My Work, I Can See Those Songs I Bailed On Could Have Been Better, That Had Those Great Two Verses And Then I Kind Of Coasted From There. These Days, If A Song Is Giving Me Trouble, I Put It Aside And Pick It Up Later, And Keep Doing That, For A Year If I Have To, Until It Takes Shape.
Song
Writing
Years
I Did Not Design This Game; I Did Not Name The Stakes. I Just Happen To Like Apples; And I Am Not Afraid Of Snakes.
Games
Snakes
Names
Spring Is Super In The Supermarkets And The Strawberries Prance And Glow Never Mind That They're All Kinda Tart And Tasteless As Strawberries Go Meanwhile Wild Things Are Not For Sale Anymore Than They Are For Show So I'll Be Outside, In Love With The Kind Of Beauty It Takes More Than Eyes To Know
Spring
Eye
Mind
The Bathroom Mirror Has Not Budged, The Woman Who Lives There Can Tell The Truth From The Stuff They Say And Looks Me In The Eye- Says Do You Prefer The Easy Way? No? Well Ok Then, Dont Cry.
Eye
Mirrors
Looks
Why Do You Think I Write These Feminist Songs, To Try And Teach Myself To Respect Myself. You Know, It's Not Because I'm A Hero.
Song
Hero
Writing
Some People's Minds We're Not Going To Change. But If We Can't, We Need To Bring More Positive Voices Into The Discussion.
Voice
People
Mind
[the 'corporate Takeover Of People's Lives'] Also Accounts For A Lot Of Homogenization Of Culture. There Are Fast Food Restaurants Everywhere. Every Place Tastes The Same.
People
Culture
Taste
We Are Wise Women, We Are Giggling Girls. We Both Carry A Smile To Show When We're Pleased, We Both Carry A Switchblade In Our Sleeves.
Girl
Wise
Evil
I Still Define Myself By The Places That I've Been.
Stills
Just Let Me Go, We Have To Be Able To Criticize What We Love, To Say What We Have To Say 'cause If You're Not Trying To Make Something Better, Then As Far As I Can Tell, You Are Just In The Way.
Criticism
Trying
Able
I Basically Get Stereotyped A Lot In Terms Of Being A Girl And Writing 'chick' Music For Teenage Girls Or Something. I Think, If Anything, The Press Kind Of, Because Of My Gender And My Age, Tends To Kind Of Relegate My Work To This Sort Of Special-interest Group. It's Part Of The Cultural Dynamic, I Guess.
Girl
Teenage
Writing
I Am Getting Nowhere With You And I Can't Let You Go And I Cant Get Through.
Relationship
Letting You Go
I Can
Love Isn't Over When The Sheets Are Stained.
Love
Love Is
Sheets
Life Is A B Movie: It's Stupid And It's Strange, It's A Directionless Story, The Dialogue Is Lame, But In The 'he Said She Said' Sometimes There's Some Poetry, If You Turn Your Back Long Enough And Let It Happen Naturally.
Movie
Stupid
Long
Taken Out Of Context I Must Seem So Strange.
Honesty
Taken
Strange
I Am Not An Angry Girl, But It Seems I've Got Everyone Fooled. Every Time I Say Something They Find Hard To Hear, They Chalk It Up To My Anger And Not To Their Own Fear. Imagine You're A Girl Just Trying To Finally Come Clean, Knowing Full Well They Prefer You Dirty And Smiling.
Girl
Fear
Dirty
I'll Walk The Plank And I'll Jump With A Smile, Cause If I'm Gonna Go Down I'm Gonna Do It With Style.
Style
Causes
Walks
I Don't Take Good Pictures 'cause I Have The Kind Of Beauty That Moves.
Beauty
Moving
Causes
Virtue Is Relative At Best, There's Nothing Worse Than A Sunset When Your Driving Due West.
Philosophy
Sunset
West
My Mother Was A Feminist, And She Gave Me Some Tools Of Self-possession And Self-empowerment, But Now That I Have Lived Here For Forty-three Years, It's, Like, Whoa, There Is Just So Much More To Do, Other Than Become Myself. I'm Still Talking About It. I Still Drop The P-word, "patriarchy," On Unsuspecting People In Everyday Conversations.
Mother
Self
Talking
Too Much Is How I Love You, But Too Well Is How I Know You.
Relationship
Love You
Too Much
People Talk About My Image Like I Come In Two Dimensions, Like Lipstick Is A Sign Of My Declining Mind, Like What I Happen To Be Wearing The Day That Someone Takes My Picture Is My New Statement For All Womankind.
Two
People
Mind
I Do It For The Joy It Brings Because I'm A Joyful Girl Because The World Owes Me Nothing And We Owe Each Other The World
Inspirational
Girl
Joy
I Use My Dress To Wipe Up My Drink, I Care Less And Less What People Think.
Thinking
Social Taboos
People
I Am A Work In Progress Dressed In The Fabric Of A World Unfolding Offering Me Intricate Patterns Of Questions Rhythms That Never Come Clean And Strengths That You Still Haven't Seen
Offering
Progress
Fabric
I Don't Like My Language Watered Down, I Don't Like My Edges Rounded Off.
Music
Language
Edges
I Fight With Love And I Laugh With Rage....you Gotta Live Light Enough To See The Humor, And Long Enough To See Some Change.
Love
Life
Fighting
We're Led By Denial Like Lambs To Slaughter, Serving Empires Of Style And Carbonated Sugar Water.
Art
Media
Water
We Have A Complete Void Of Progressive Politics In This Country Right Now. The Will Of The People Goes Ignored And Unrealized. I'm Searching For The People That Can Enter The Political System, A Strong Third Party. We Need To Consolidate.
Country
Strong
Party
At Night When You're Asleep, Self-hatred's Going To Creep In. And You Can Blame It On The Devil, The One Who's Bed You Sleep In.
Sex
Sleep
Night
Mostly, I Stay Out Of Social Media Conversations. But Sometimes, They Hunt Me Down And Shoot At Me Anyway!
Media
Down And
Sometimes
Taking Me Seriously Is A Big Mistake. I Certainly Wouldn't.
Mistake
Bigs
Big Mistake
Art May Imitate Life, But Life Imitates Tv.
Life
Art
Inspire
The World Is My Oyster. The Road Is My Home. And I Know That I'm Better Off Alone.
Home
Oysters
World
I See A Lot Of Connections Between Folk And Punk Music Just Because They're Both Subcorporate Music - I Mean, Traditionally.
Mean
Connections
Punk
When I Was A Teenager In The '80s, I Was The Only Girl In The Guitar Shop. Now If You Walk Into A Music Store, It's Mostly Teenage Girls. It's Great! It's An Expansion Of Possibilities For Young Women, Finding A Way To Tools Even If They Aren't Directly Handed Those Tools By Adults.
Girl
Teenage
Possibility
I Want Somebody Who Sees The Pointlessness And Still Keeps Their Purpose In Mind; I Want Somebody Who Has A Tortured Soul ...some Of The Time
Soul
Mind
Purpose
My Life May Not Be Something Special But It's Never Been Lived Before.
Special
May
Something Special
I Try To Laugh At Whatever Life Brings.
Laughing
Trying
I Did A Lot Of Work With Myself Over The Course Of Being Pregnant And The First Few Months Of Being Pregnant. It's Nice, The Pace Of Being Pregnant; It Gives You A Long Time To Not Just Germinate A Baby But Germinate The Mother That You're Gonna Be.
Mother
Baby
Nice
Feel Free To Listen, Feel Free To Stare.
Philosophy
Staring
Feels
I've Never Had A Very Closely Connected Family. My Parents Split Up When I Was Young And I Was Living With My Mom For A Little While, Then I Was Kind Of Just On My Own Really Young. It Wasn't Some Kind Of Global Tragedy, It Was Just Never Really A Very Close-knit Family. So There Was Support In The Sense That They Didn't Stand In My Way.
Mom
Support
Parent
I Noticed With Older Songs That I Perform That I'm Coming From A Different Place With Them Now...it Mutates The Vibe And Even The Meaning Of The Same Words When You Have A Different Spirit, If The Person Singing Is Different. I Like That, To Be Able To Sing An Emotionally Wrought Song From A More Centered Place, Or To Sing An Eager, Youthful Song From A More Experienced Place. It Kind Of Colors The Songs Differently, And It Keeps Them Fresh.
Song
Writing
Color
What We All Have To Admit To Is That One Man Cannot Save Us. Unless We Start Energizing Ourselves, All Standing Behind Him With All Of The Force Of Our Collective Power Then We Can't Expect Mountains To Be Moved. And That Is Not Exactly Happening, We Are A Very Comfortable Population.
Men
Mountain
Population
I Know Men Are Delicate Origami Creatures Who Need Women To Unfold Them, Hold Them When They Cry. But I Am Tired Of Being Your Savior And I Am Tired Of Telling You Why.
Tired
Sadness
Men
Sometimes The Beauty Is Easy. Sometimes You Don't Have To Try At All. Sometimes You Can Hear The Wind Blow In A Handshake. Sometimes There's Poetry Written Right On The Bathroom Wall.
Wall
Blow
Wind
I Don't Hate Being Compared With Female Musicians. I Don't Mind That At All. I Have No Problem With Seeing Connections Between Women's Work.
Hate
Mind
Musician
I'm Aware Enough, I Guess, Of American Labor History.
Enough
Labor
I'm Recording Our History Now On The Bedroom Wall, And When We Leave The Landlord Will Come And Paint Over It All.
Wall
Bedroom
Paint
A Lot Of Women These Days, A Lot Of Young Women Don't Want To Call Themselves Feminists. You Have This Cheap, Hideous 'girl Power' Sort Of Fad, Which I Think Is Pretty Benign At Best, But At Worst, I Think It's A Way Of Taking The Politics Out Of Feminism And Making It Some Kind Of Fashion.
Girl
Fashion
Thinking
In Order To Keep Anything Cultural, Logical, Or Ideological, You Have To Reinvent The Reality Of It.
Reality
Order
Logical
Birth Is The Epicenter Of Women's Power
Pregnancy
Birth
Inspirational Pregnancy
I'm An All Powerful Amazon Warrior, Not Just Some Sniveling Girl.
Girl
Powerful
Warrior
My Songs Are Just Little Letters To Me.
Song
Letters
Littles
Any Tool Is A Weapon If You Hold It Right.
Tools
Weapons
Ifs
I've Been Waiting For Sleep To Offer Up The Day With Both Hands.
Sleep
Hands
Waiting
I Hope Progressive Ways Of Thinking Will Permeate The "mainstream" More And More In The Coming Years. Goddess Knows We Have Endured A Very Long Spell (thirty Plus Years) Of Regressive Thinking And Hyper Conservativism Dominating Our Culture And National Discourse. It Necessitates Risk Taking And Rule Breaking By People In All Walks Of Life To Swing That Pendulum Back Though.
Thinking
Years
Swings
You Are So Lame. You Always Disappoint Me. It's Kind Of Like Our Running Joke But It's Really Not Funny And I Just Want You To Live Up To The Image Of You I Create.
Running
Lame
Want
I Hate It When People Don't Recognize The Work Of Women As Being Universal, Or Having Any Import To The World At Large, As Opposed To Men's Work, Which Is Generally Tends To Be Seen As More Universal - Men's Writing About Their Own Experience Tends To Be Put In A Broader Context.
Hate
Writing
Men
Let's Show Them All How It's Done, Let's Do It All Imperfectly.
Life
Done
Shows
It Seems That Different People Have An Idea Of What I Am, And What I Should Be. And Then There's Me.
Ideas
People
Different
I Don't Always Feel Lucky, But I'm Smart Enough To Try.
Smart
Trying
Lucky
If You’re Not Angry, Then You’re Just Stupid, You Don’t Care. How Else Can You React When Something’s So Unfair?
Stupid
Care
Unfair
First Decide What You Got To Do, Then Go Out And Do It. All We Can Do Is To See Each Other Through It.
Life
Firsts
Can Do
I'd Rather Be Able To Face Myself In The Bathroom Mirror Than Be Rich And Famous.
Mirrors
Self Love
Able
All Of Youth Culture Is Packaged And Sold Back To Us At This Furious Rate These Days. I Think It's Part And Parcel To This Corporate Encroachment On Our Lives In General.
Thinking
Culture
Youth
A Good Brain Ain't Diddley, If You Don't Have The Facts.
Education
Brain
Facts
I Knew Naturally As A Child Not To Forfeit My Creativity To A World That's All Laid Out For Me. I'll Look At Everything Around Me And Vow To Keep In Mind That Alla This Is Just Someone's Idea. It Could Have Just As Well Been Mine.
Children
Creativity
Ideas
Emptiness Has Its Solace In That There's Nothing Left To Take.
Sadness
Emptiness
Solace
My Music Doesn't Really Sound Like Punk Music, It's Acoustic. And It Doesn't Really Sound Like Folk Music 'cause I'm Thrashing Too Hard And Emoting A Little Too Much For The Sort Of Introspective, Respectful, Sort-of Folk Genre Thing. I'm Really Into Punk And Folk As Music That Comes Out Of Communities And Is Very Genuine And Very Immediate And Not Commercial.
Community
Sound
Littles
Then I Show Up Steady Ready And Proud And I Find I've Forgotten How To Talk Out Loud. Isn't It Just Like You To Bring Me To My Knees?
Fall
Knees
Proud
When All You Can Think Of Is Your Own Personal Problems, You Have Nothing To Give To Your Society. If You're Trying To Figure Out Where Your Next Meal Is Coming From, You Can't Go March On Washington.
Thinking
March On Washington
Giving
Vulnerability Is Something That I Negotiate Every Day.
Vulnerability
In A Man's World, I Am A Woman By Birth And After 19 Times Around I Have Found - They Will Stop At Nothing Once They Know What You Are Worth.
Men
World
Birth
One Thing That Barack Obama Promised, One Thing That We All Know We Must Do Is Evolve Our Industry And Our Technology To Being Green And Sustainable. We Need To Move Away From Fossil Fuels And Nuclear Power, Both Of Which I Think Spell Doom For Human Society.
Moving
Technology
Thinking
If You Want To Challenge The System, Don't Go To Bed With It.
Guitar
Challenges
Bed
And I Was Shocked, To See The Mistakes Of Each Generation, Will Just Fade Like A Radio Station, If You Drive Out Of Range...
Mistake
Generations
Radio
They Say That The Truth Will Set You Free But Then Again, So Will A Lie... It Depends If You're Trying To Get To The Promised Land Or If You're Just Trying To Get By.
Lying
Truth Will Set You Free
Land
I Know The Biggest Crime Is Just To Throw Up Your Hands, Say, This Has Nothing To Do With Me, I Just Want To Live As Comfortably As I Can...
Hands
Want
Crime
These Days I Keep A Journal, So I'm Constantly Sketching Down My Thoughts, Or Lines That Come To Me...ideas For Songs. And Then When I Have A Moment To Myself, I'll Sit Down With My Guitar And Open My Journal, And Start Kind Of Massaging Things Together, And See If A Song Takes Shape. Or Sometimes, I'll Just Be Hanging Out With My Guitar And Come Up With A Chord Progression Or A Lick, And That'll Sort Of Sit Around For A While Waiting To Marry Itself To Some Words. So It's Sort Of Haphazard And It's Like...junk Culture. I Go Around Finding Shiny Objects And I Glue Them Together Laughs.
Song
Writing
Guitar
My Country Tis Of Thee, To Take Swings At Each Other On Talk Show Tv.
Country
Swings
Politics
The Windows Of My Soul Are Made Of One-way Glass, Don't Bother Looking Into My Eyes If There's Something You Want To Know, Just Ask
Eye
Glasses
Soul
I Am Writing Graffiti On Your Body. I Am Drawing The Story Of How Hard We Tried.
Writing
Drawing
Graffiti
Maybe You Don't Like Your Job, Maybe You Didn't Get Enough Sleep, Well Nobody Likes Their Job, Nobody Got Enough Sleep. Maybe You Just Had The Worst Day Of Your Life, But You Know, There's No Escape, There's No Excuse, So Just Suck Up And Be Nice.
Jobs
Nice
Sleep
There Is No Alternative. A Democrat Is A Republican Is A Big Businessman, And We're All Consumers Instead Of Citizens. It Just Manifests In The Culture, In The Music, In The Art. I Feel A Little Panicky About It.
Art
Culture
Alternatives
Imagine You're A Girl, Just Trying To Finally Come Clean, Knowing Full Well They'd Prefer You Were Dirty And Smiling.
Girl
Dirty
Knowing
I Was Attracted To A Lot Of Different Art Forms - Dancing, Painting. But There's Something About Music That People Hold So Close. It's Such A Powerful Art Form, And That's Why I Live For It.
Art
Powerful
People
Either You Are A Feminist Or You Are A Sexist/misogynist. There Is No Box Marked 'other'.
Feminist
Sexist
Boxes
People Used To Make Records, As In The Record Of An Event, The Event Of People Playing Music In A Room, And Now Everything's Cross-marketing, Its About Sunglasses And Shoes, Or Guns And Drugs That You Choose.
Gun
Shoes
People
I'm Pretty Much A Workaholic, But When You're Doing What You Love It's Hard To Think Of A Reason To Stop.
Thinking
Doing What You Love
Workaholic
You've Got Your Whole Life To Do Something, And That's Not Very Long. So Why Don't You Give Me A Call When You're Willing To Fight For What You Think Is Real, For What You Think Is Right.
Real
Fighting
Thinking
The Way I Play Guitar Is Very, Very Hard And I Bloody Myself Incredibly Without The Tape. And The Nails Are My Picks.
Bloody
I Am 32 Flavors And Then Some.
Expression
Flavor
I Would Rather Have These Things Weigh On My Mind. At The End Of This Tunnel Of Guilt And Shame, There Must Be A Light Of Some Kind.
Philosophy
Tunnels
Light
I Seriously Hate Pop Music And All Things Super-commercial, So I'd Be Hard Pressed To Feel Embarrassed By Anything I Listen To. Besides, I Have A Three-year-old, So I Don't Have Time For Guilty Pleasures Anyway!
Hate
Guilty
Pleasure
We Are Wise, Wise Women. We Are Giggling Girls.
Girl
Wise
Wise Women
Now Let's Get Talking: Reefer Madness. Like Some Arrogant Government Can't, By Any Stretch Of The Imagination, Outlaw A Plant.
Government
Talking
Imagination
If A Politician Is Running In Your Local Community Who's Pro-choice, Who's Feminist In Their Thinking, Get Behind Them. Send Them Some Money! If You Have No Money But Have Time, Lick Stamps!
Running
Thinking
Community
Squint Your Eyes And Look Closer I'm Not Between You And Your Ambition I Am A Poster Girl With No Poster I Am Thirty-two Flavors And Then Some And I'm Beyond Your Peripheral Vision So You Might Want To Turn Your Head Cause Someday You Might Find You're Starving And Eating All Of The Words You Said.
Girl
Ambition
Eye
I Always Wanted To Be Commander-in-chief Of My One-woman Army, But I Can Envision The Mediocrity Of My Finest Hour.
Army
Mediocrity
Hours
I'm Searching, As We All Are, For Ways To Feel Good About Myself. Certainly, Looking In The Mirror Doesn't Do It!
Mirrors
Feel Good
Looking In The Mirror
Art Is Why I Get Up In The Morning, But My Definition Ends There.
Art
Morning
Definitions
My Distraction's My Defense Against This Lack Of Inspiration Against This Slow Deflation Yeah The Further The Horizon The More It Holds My Gaze The Foreground's Out Of Focus But You Know I Kinda Hope It's Just A Phase Just A Phase.
Inspiration
Focus
Defense
The Old Farm Roads A Four Lane That Leads To The Mall, And Our Dreams Are All Guillotines Waiting To Fall.
Dream
Fall
Reality
When I Was Like Sixteen, I Was A Total Chick I Had Big Hair. I Was Seen As This Attractive Girl, And I Would Get All This Attention. And Then I Just Cut Off My Hair, And I Quit Playing That Game.
Girl
Cutting
Hair
If You Think You Know What I'm Doing Wrong Well You're Gonna Have To Get In Line.
Thinking
Lines
Wells
Art Is Why I Get Up In The Morning But My Definition Ends There. You Know I Don't Think Its Fair That I'm Living For Something I Can't Even Define.
Art
Morning
Thinking
Fate Is Not Just Whose Cooking Smells Good, But Which Way The Wind Blows
Fate
Blow
Wind
It Can Be Very Frustrating And Very Deflating To Be Constantly Defined And Described By Other People, So I've Stopped Reading Anything Written About Me, And I Find It Much Healthier. I Just Sort Of Concentrate On What I Do And Don't Worry Too Much About That.
Reading
People
Worry
Trending Author
Spike Lee
Richard Marx
Ray Stannard Baker
Thor Heyerdahl
Philip Sidney
Richard Roeper
Category
Information